Ibali: storying new discourses of educational inclusion/exclusion in the UK, Nigeria and South Africa

Lead Research Organisation: The Open University
Department Name: Faculty of Wellbg, Educ & Lang Sci(WELS)

Abstract

"The story is our escort; without it, we are blind" (Chinua Achebe)

UNESCO's 2020 Global Education Report on inclusion states that progress on ensuring all children have a positive and productive education is stagnating. Only 57% of countries have an adequate definition of inclusive education and a quarter of teachers globally feel unprepared for teaching inclusively. At the report's launch UNESCO called for more creatively and sensitively derived data to support the reconceptualisation of education systems to ensure inclusion for all children.

We are a collective of researchers from the UK, Nigeria and South Africa. Our proposed study focuses on the under-researched commonalities and differences of how inclusion and exclusion are experienced across education systems. There are three strands: a digital storytelling approach to generate new discourses around inclusion and exclusion in these contexts; a critical, ethnographic evaluation of the storytelling research process to show how storytelling could be better and more ethically used in research and; a storytelling research knowledge exchange Hub.
The storytelling element will explore young people's, teachers', teacher educators' and policymakers' perspectives on what it means to be included in or excluded in education. It will adapt an established approach for generating stories through creative workshops to produce 60-72 digital stories which document experiences and perspectives on inclusion/exclusion (at least 20 from each country). The approach incorporates closed and public story screening, analysis and dissemination events hosted with the support of project collaborators (stakeholders in education provision at local and national levels). These events will be designed to support rich and nuanced dialogues around how to reconceptualise education settings and processes to support wider inclusion.

A comparative ethnography of the storytelling element will be carried out in parallel by ethnographers from the UK, South Africa and Nigeria. This is important because storytelling research is often presented as a panacea for international development challenges but there are risks involved that relate to who is facilitating the process and how: this can reproduce imbalances of power and knowledge around social issues in African and UK contexts. The ethnographic strand will critically document and analyse through an anti-colonial lens how knowledge about inclusion/exclusion is perceived to surface through the storytelling processes in each context and how power relations are perceived to play out within these processes. This strand will lead to critically conceptualised guides for researchers and practitioners wanting to learn or improve storytelling research techniques (with a particular focus on anti-colonial practices) and for policymakers wanting to use storytelling data to develop programmes and policies.

The Hub will be an online, open access site of storytelling research resources, knowledge exchange and innovation. We will invite diverse contributions from researchers, practitioners and activists globally to foster critical dialogue around storytelling research, diversify the knowledge base and enhance access to storytelling resources and debates, especially for academics and practitioners across Africa who do not have institutional access to journals or funds for storytelling research guides and materials.

Together, these strands will contribute to addressing issues around young people's inclusion in different contexts, as well as document and analyse how researchers can learn to work with complex, arts-based storytelling approaches in a critical and anti-colonial way. It is directly aligned with the AHRC's aim to bring a deep cultural understanding into the realm of international development: it positions storytelling as both an epistemology and research approach, and as a mode of knowledge generation as well as a form of expression and engagement.
 
Title Stories of inclusion/exclusion in education 
Description A key output of this research is a body of digital stories about education inclusion and exclusion created by young people and teachers in Nigeria, South Africa and the UK. We are using the digital stories for analysis and sharing in research-related workshops and engagement activities (where we have permission from the individual storytellers) to stimulate discussion around the issue of inclusion/exclusion. 
Type Of Art Film/Video/Animation 
Year Produced 2023 
Impact The stories have been showcased at engagement activities (the impact of which we have listed in the engagement part of this submission). 
 
Description The project is not yet complete. However, initial findings and achievements are summarised below.

Ibali is working with young people and teachers from the UK, South Africa and Nigeria to develop stories about inclusion and exclusion in education. Our findings suggest that policy, curricular and public narratives around inclusion are confusingly framed and have constrained application. Young people and teachers have different perspectives on why young people might feel excluded in school, and about what teachers can do to support inclusion. This has implications for schools working towards being more inclusive spaces for young people. The stories, and reflections generated around them, are also providing original insights into the link between young people's experiences of inclusion and exclusion in an education system, and teachers' (often unarticulated, both historic and contemporary) experiences of inclusion and exclusion within the same system. The findings are being shared and debated at engagement events with stakeholders, and will be written up as academic articles, practitioner materials and policy briefs. The project is also exploring how storytelling research can be carried out in more ethical and inclusive ways in different contexts, and a range of academic and practitioner resources are in development to share findings around this strand of activity. Finally, the Knowledge Hub showcases a rich diversity of storytelling work from expert researchers and practitioners from around the world - a unique and freely accessible resource for anyone interested in developing their storytelling practice.
Exploitation Route Practical guides for schools (co-authored with teachers and young people) to support inclusive principles and practices.
Practical guides for researchers, teachers and practitioners to support the use of story and storytelling in teaching, learning and research activities.
Sectors Education

URL https://wels.open.ac.uk/research/projects/ibali
 
Description At the time of reporting (early 2024) we have six monthe left of the project. Some data is still being analysed and prepared for publication and engagement. Emerging findings have been shared through events with students, teachers, researchers and education stakeholders, in the UK, Nigeria and South Africa. A key strand of this grant was the creation of a Knowledge Exchange Hub: an online, open access site of storytelling resources, blogs, podcasts and reflections from people around the world who are using story methods in their research. We launched this at the end of 2022 and have a bank of outputs (recorded in Publications and Engagement Activities), with several more in development. The Hub seeks to foster critical, public dialogue around storytelling research, diversify the knowledge base and enhance access to storytelling resources and debates, especially for academics and practitioners in lower income contexts who do not have institutional access to journals or funds for storytelling research guides and materials.
First Year Of Impact 2022
Sector Education,Other
Impact Types Societal

Policy & public services

 
Description British Association for International and Comparative Education (BAICE) Strategy Day
Geographic Reach National 
Policy Influence Type Contribution to new or improved professional practice
Impact The strategy day helped to make more meaningful connections between the charity's aspirations, and the regulatory infrastructure and support required to facilitate these.
 
Description Centre for the Study of Global Development (CSGD) Strategy Day
Geographic Reach Multiple continents/international 
Policy Influence Type Contribution to new or improved professional practice
Impact The strategy day was part of a series of events that underpinned the development of the research centre's communication video.
URL https://wels.open.ac.uk/research/centre-study-global-development
 
Description Student led spaces of inclusion? A participatory action study with learners and teachers in Zimbabwe, Kenya and Nigeria
Amount £60,000 (GBP)
Organisation Open University 
Sector Academic/University
Country United Kingdom
Start  
 
Title Training resources for institution's Human Research Ethics Committee 
Description We worked closely with our institution's ethics board when planning our project. We were approached by them subsequently requesting use of multiple entries within our project's ethics submission as 'exemplary' models for university ethics board training materials. 
Type Of Material Improvements to research infrastructure 
Year Produced 2023 
Provided To Others? No  
Impact Too early to report. 
 
Description Creative Workshop at the BAICE Conference 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact See URL for description of workshop.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://baice.ac.uk/hub/ibali-co-creating-learning-spaces-in-and-through-storytelling-research-activ...
 
Description Ibali Education Stakeholder Forum - Nigeria 2023 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact This Education Stakeholder Engagement Forum brought together teachers, teacher educators and local and state-level education officials with the aim of supporting dialogue across different strands of the education system and identifying pathways for sustainable responses to issues around inclusion and exclusion in Edo State (Nigeria).
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Ibali Inclusion Learning Day 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The Ibali Learning Day brought together researchers, teachers and practitioners working in different ways, on different projects, programmes or initiatives which centre the issue of inclusion. The day was divided into two parts. Part one was about inclusion in education as a topic of interest. Part two was about how centring inclusive principles in research or work. More than 20 people attended (in person and online). Feedback was extremely positive and has led to new research proposals (in development). Two blogs were developed from the day. At the time of reporting, one has been published and the other is in the final stages of review.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://wels.open.ac.uk/research/centre-study-global-development/blog/ibali-learning-and-networking-...
 
Description Ibali Knowledge Exchange Hub 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The storytelling knowledge exchange hub was a key intended output of this grant. We launched it at the end of 2022 and are steadily building up a curated repository of blog posts, articles and podcasts from people around the worlld who use story in their research.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://wels.open.ac.uk/research/projects/ibali/knowledge-hub
 
Description Interview with storytelling expert (CohenMiller) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Professor CohenMiller is a TEDx speaker, multi-award-winning qualitative methodologist and educational leader who uses transformational research and leadership to address issues of equity, inclusion, and justice in higher education internationally. She specialises in arts-based research to facilitate and amplify voice of marginalised, overlooked/misheard, and colonised communities, focusing on guiding and empowering early career researchers and demystifying justice-centred research. In this feature, she shared her work, ideas and insights with Ibali members Dr Jennifer Agbaire and Dr Faith Mkwananzi.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://wels.open.ac.uk/research/projects/ibali/knowledge-hub/justice-centred-storytelling-and-resea...
 
Description Interview with storytelling expert (Hanna) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Dr Helen Hanna is a Lecturer at the University of Manchester in the UK. Ibali member Dr Jennifer Agbaire interviewed her about her creative, story-centred research on migration and education in South Africa and the UK.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://wels.open.ac.uk/research/projects/ibali/knowledge-hub/eternal-ups-and-downs-%E2%80%98doing%E...
 
Description Interview with storytelling expert (Ismaila) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Margaret Ismaila is a faculty member in the Department of Theatre Arts, University of Ghana. Her research revolves around indigenous performance and communities' participation in preservation, historiography of embodied knowledge and functionality of traditional institutions. In this interview she talks to Ibali members Dr Jennifer Agbaire and Dr Faith Mkwananzi about how she taps into African aesthetics through her storytelling work.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://wels.open.ac.uk/research/projects/ibali/knowledge-hub/storytelling-inside-and-outside-classr...
 
Description Interview with storytelling expert (Mathebula) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Mikateko Mathebula is an Associate Professor at the Higher Education and Human Development Research Programme, at the University of the Free State, South Africa. Ibali members Dr Faith Mkwananzi and Dr Jennifer Agbaire interviewed her about her work using storytelling and other creative methods to explore injustice and human flourishing in higher education in South Africa.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://wels.open.ac.uk/research/projects/ibali/knowledge-hub/shedding-light-educational-inclusion-a...
 
Description Invited seminar at University of Bristol 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Seminar advert:
'Inclusion' is a widely used but under-conceptualised 'buzzword' in education research, and there is often little consideration of how research processes that generate knowledge around inclusion are, in themselves, inclusive. Funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council, the Ibali project uses storytelling to explore perspectives and experiences of educational inclusion and exclusion with young people and teachers in Nigeria, South Africa and the UK. But alongside, it also critically explores the storytelling approach which, whilst gaining popularity as a research tool, is often under-theorised and used uncritically and even problematically in research and practice. The project team comprises researchers of inclusion, storytelling facilitators and ethnographers trained in the UK, South Africa and Nigeria respectively. Together, we are facilitating storytelling research workshops with young people and teachers in the three country contexts as well as individually and collaboratively documenting and analysing the storytelling process, exploring how researchers and participants make sense of storytelling as a meaningful approach to researching and communicating people's lived experiences.

In this seminar, three members of the project's team - Drs Alison Buckler, Jennifer Agbaire and Katherine Collins - will talk about experiences and emerging insights so far as the project approaches the end of its first year. We will also screen some stories about experiences of inclusion and exclusion from our workshop with young people in the UK.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://calendar.time.ly/s4f7hatq/event/bristol-conversations-in-education-ibali-exploring-stories-o...
 
Description PG Qualitative methods course at Oxford University, Department of Education 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Perspectives and Debates in Qualitative Research (PG qualitative methods course at Oxford University, Department of Education)
An 8-week course in qualitative methods led by Dr Katherine Collins, a member of the Ibali research team. Examples from Ibali were drawn upon in 3 seminars around issues of emotion (guest speaker Yusra Price - another Ibali researcher), ethics and observation.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2024
 
Description Postgraduate Methods Workshop 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact This workshop received excellent feedback from students. Two students and one postdoctoral researcher have since approached the team wanting to use story methods in their research and seeking further information and support.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Rethinking Methods (Doctoral students qualitative methods course at Oxford University, Department of Education) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Ibali examples drawn upon in a seminar series for doctoral students, led by Ibali researcher Dr Katherine Collins. This included references to emotion (involving guest speaker and Ibali researcher Yusra Price), creative practice and forms.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2024
 
Description Stories are not the answer... but they can shape our imagination towards the answer (podcast) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact We interviewed renowned South African storyteller Baeletsi Tsatsi as part of our 'Talking story' podcast series.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://open.spotify.com/show/7bVAI8JxrJGkKWWBh9PFOr?si=ipClSbQWSHKc8Sia3WNGTw&nd=1
 
Description Storytelling and the Ibali Project (podcast) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact The research team were invited to be interviewed for the BAICE (British Association for International and Comparative Education) podcast series. We re-posted this podcast on our Ibali Knowledge Exchange Hub.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://soundcloud.com/user-472463201-699286815/episode-1-storytelling-and-the-ibali-project?si=7310...
 
Description Storytelling podcast (Storytelling as Fluid Folds - part 1) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Storytelling as Fluid Folds: Moving Universes of Meaning from within and Outside Academia (Part 1)
This is part 1 of a two-part podcast with Dr Carmen Martinez Vargas. Carmen is a transdisciplinary scholar whose work is focused on the politics of knowledge and knowledge inequalities embedded in higher education practices, especially focusing on participatory research and the Capability Approach. Her research and writing are rooted in a lifelong ongoing conversation between Western and Southern thinkers but especially embedded in recent years within decolonial, cultural hybridity and intersectional lines of thought. In this first episode, she talks about the transdisciplinary potential of storytelling work.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jennifer1236/episodes/Storytelling-as-Fluid-Folds-Moving-Uni...
 
Description Storytelling podcast (Storytelling as Fluid Folds - part 2) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Storytelling as Fluid Folds: Moving Universes of Meaning from within and Outside Academia (Part 2)
This is part 2 of a two-part podcast with Dr Carmen Martinez Vargas. Carmen is a transdisciplinary scholar whose work is focused on the politics of knowledge and knowledge inequalities embedded in higher education practices, especially focusing on participatory research and the Capability Approach. Her research and writing are rooted in a lifelong ongoing conversation between Western and Southern thinkers but especially embedded in recent years within decolonial, cultural hybridity and intersectional lines of thought. In this first episode, she talks about the transdisciplinary potential of storytelling work.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/jennifer1236/episodes/Storytelling-as-Fluid-Folds-Moving-Uni...
 
Description Storytelling podcast (Students as storytellers - part 1) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Students as Co-researchers and Storytellers in South Africa: Decolonial Approaches (Part 1)
In this three-part podcast series, Ibali researcher Dr Jennifer Agbaire interviews a dynamic team of researchers and scholars in South Africa and the UK. The team shares experiences and lessons from their innovative project, titled Southern African Rurality in Higher Education (SARiHE). This introductory episode highlights the background and decolonial aims of SARiHE. The team also introduces their interesting positioning of student participants as 'co-researchers' within an eclectic methodological approach involving storytelling.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ibali123/episodes/Decoloniality--Co-researching-and-Storytel...
 
Description Storytelling podcast (Students as storytellers - part 2) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Students as Co-researchers and Storytellers in South Africa: Decolonial Approaches (Part 2)
In this three-part podcast series, Ibali researcher Dr Jennifer Agbaire interviews a dynamic team of researchers and scholars in South Africa and the UK. The team shares experiences and lessons from their innovative project, titled Southern African Rurality in Higher Education (SARiHE). This introductory episode highlights the background and decolonial aims of SARiHE. The team also introduces their interesting positioning of student participants as 'co-researchers' within an eclectic methodological approach involving storytelling.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ibali123/episodes/Decoloniality--Co-researching-and-Storytel...
 
Description Storytelling podcast (Students as storytellers - part 3) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact Students as Co-researchers and Storytellers in South Africa: Decolonial Approaches (Part 3)
In this three-part podcast series, Ibali researcher Dr Jennifer Agbaire interviews a dynamic team of researchers and scholars in South Africa and the UK. The team shares experiences and lessons from their innovative project, titled Southern African Rurality in Higher Education (SARiHE). This introductory episode highlights the background and decolonial aims of SARiHE. The team also introduces their interesting positioning of student participants as 'co-researchers' within an eclectic methodological approach involving stor
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
URL https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ibali123/episodes/Decoloniality--Co-researching-and-Storytel...
 
Description Team member interviewed for young person's college project 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Study participants or study members
Results and Impact A study participant was inspired by their engagement with the storytelling research workshop, and designed their college project around principles of storytelling for engagement. The Ibali PI was interviewed and supported the development of the methodology for the college project.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023